Pipes are generally passages through which liquids such as water or the other kinds are induced and moved. Pipes are typically embedded in floors or walls of buildings.
As such pipes are used for a relatively long time, acid eats inner surfaces of such pipes and various kinds of foreign substances are susceptible to being stuck on the inner surface and thus scales may be produced. The scales may be solidified as time passes and they are the cause for narrow diameter of a pipe passage.
Once a pipe passage gets narrow by scales, it is not smooth to move fluidal material through a pipe and thus the pipe may not be functioned as designed. Still worse, there might be damage to the pipe due to motion pressure of fluidal material. As a result, as soon as scales are produced in a pipe, scales should be removed to allow the pipe to be functioned normally.
A method has been broadly used to remove scales that water mixed with chemicals passes a pipe and the chemicals contacts with scales to cause chemical reaction. As a result, the scales dissolve in water by the chemical reaction.
However, an auxiliary mechanism such as an injection unit should be provided in the above method that uses chemicals. Also, this method should be taken good care of during the scale removing process, because chemicals are used. Thus, damage to pipes might be caused by chemicals during the scale removing process and cost for working the process may be relatively high, because chemicals cost quite a lot.
Furthermore, even though it is announced that such chemicals do no harm to humans, consumers who uses water may have anxiety. Especially, people who live in ordinary houses may be negative in using chemicals to remove scales. Accordingly, the problem caused by scales in pipes is not solved easily.
There are well-known pipe scale removing devices invented to solve above problems.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, according to a conventional pipe scale removing device, a flexible wire is inserted in a pipe and the flexible wire is rotated at a high speed so that the rotating flexible wire repeatedly collides with scales produced in the pipe until the scales fall off.
More specifically, once a worker inserts the flexible wire 1 in a pipe and operates a motor 2 at a high speed, a driving force of the motor 2 is transmitted to the flexible wire 1 and the flexible wire 1 is rotated in a guide pipe 3. The rotational force makes the flexible wire 1 outside the guide pipe 3 to pitch and roll, such that the flexible wire 1 may strikes an inner surface of the pipe. Scales produced in the pipe may be fell off the inner surface of the pipe by the striking of the flexible wire 1 and the scales are removed.
Demands for such conventional pipe scale removing device may have been increased by people living in apartments and condominiums who are supplied drinking water through pipes, because no chemicals are used in such conventional pipe scale removing device.
However, as shown in FIG. 3, the flexible wire 1 adapted in the above pipe scale removing device that removes scales in a pipe by striking has several wires that are twisted in a spiral shape to be one body, such that above flexible wire 1 is an overall straight single main wire.
Accordingly, there may be a problem of such flexible wire in that it is difficult to remove scales in pipes having a long diameter, because the striking diameter of centrifugal force is limited when such flexible wire is inserted in a pipe and rotated at a high speed.
If a diameter of a main wire provided in the flexible wire is large to solve the problem, the corresponding flexibility of the flexible wire may deteriorate in proportion of the large diameter. As a result, the conventional flexible wire has limitation in removing scales in a pipe having a large diameter.